


Chicken Soup for the Rebelcaptain Soul (Ficlet Edition)

by SleepyKalena



Series: Tumblr Prompts [6]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: (listed on a per-chapter basis), Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Various AUs, Various Ratings, Various Tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 22:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16050065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyKalena/pseuds/SleepyKalena
Summary: Limiting myself to 250 words was way too difficult! Here are the remaining 250-word prompts sent in by the Tumblr lovelies, boosted to ficlet status!**Various ratings, AUs, tags, etc- please read the notes at the beginning of each chapter before reading!





	1. Pumpkin Spice Lattes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an anon who sent in the prompt: Pumpkin spice latte- Rebelcaptain
> 
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Tags:** Kisses, Modern AU, Fluff, Language  
>  **Comments:** Curse you anon for this prompt. Signed, an anti-PSL grouch
> 
> **_[[Tumblr Post]](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/178295323053/pumpkin-spice-latte-rebelcaptain) _ **

“What Starbucks drink do you think I am?”

Cassian craned his head from his desk to look at Jyn on the couch, her face lit by the blueish glow of her laptop screen.

“...Is this a trap?” he asked jokingly.

“No,” she said flatly, nowhere near as amused as he was.

“Why are you asking?” he asked more seriously this time, settling into the couch next to her.

Jyn leaned on his shoulder, crossing her arms. “BuzzFeed said I was a Pumpkin Spice Latte.”

He drew back slightly. “Really? You let a personality quiz call you a basic bitch?”

She pushed him. “That’s why I was asking!”

“Ah, so this _is_ a trap!” he said wryly.

Jyn shut the laptop and started to get up. “Fuck off, Andor.”

He grabbed her forearm and pulled her back down on the couch, chuckling, then wrapped an arm around her to plant a kiss atop her hair, breathing in the gentle scent of her shampoo.

“You’re a bit basic at times,” he said, gesturing to the grey scarf wrapped around her neck, “and sometimes you’re a bitch to people-”

That warranted an angry, accusational pout from Jyn, and he chuckled again.

“-but you’re definitely no pumpkin spice latte.”

“Okay then,” she said slowly before challenging him. “What would I be then, _oh wise one_?”

Cassian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Then, “You’re a flat white.”

“I’m leaving,” Jyn declared, attempting to get up again.

“I meant the drink!” he said, tightening his arm around her to stop her from leaving. “No joke this time- if you were a Starbucks drink, you’d be a flat white.”

She blinked at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Cappuccinos have a lot of foam- it’s fluffy, but takes up a lot of space. Flat whites have a thin layer of microfoam- they’re velvety, and don’t take up much space at all.”

Jyn’s expression smoothed itself from unamused to neutral.

“You’re not fluffy, you’re velvety- subtle and smooth.”

She looked away, considering his words.

“People look at you and think you’re a latte or cappuccino, but you’re just a bit different. And even if a lot of people- BuzzFeed included- regard you a bit strangely for it, you’re appreciated by those who know what you’re all about.”

Cassian caught Jyn biting her lip shyly, refusing to look back at him to hide her blush.

He felt emboldened by it. “They’re also supposed to be small,” he continued, swiping playfully at the tip of her nose, “but one is more than enough to get you through the day.”

Jyn finally looked up at him.

“I-”

Her blush deepened, and Cassian took in the sight of his accomplishment.

“I want coffee,” she mumbled, still flustered. “Can we go get some?”

He regarded her expression, too captivating for words, and decided he wanted to bask in her shyness just a bit longer.

So, rather than letting go, Cassian kissed her lightly before wandering lower to nip at the weak point on her neck, smiling when she tensed up in surprise.

“Let me have this coffee first,” he said in a lowered, sultry voice, “then we’ll go get yours.”


	2. Dire Straits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [mindelan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindelan), who sent: “stop, you’re scaring me!”
> 
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Tags:** Angst  
>  **Comments:** Sometimes our OTP has arguments that they need to suss out.  
>  ** _[[Tumblr Post]](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/178438850753/for-the-250-word-prompt-stop-youre-scaring)_**

“You mean so much to me,” Cassian said, finally, after they’ve exchanged so many words for Force knows how long. Time seemed to stretch inconceivably for him, and he was no longer sure just how long they'd been arguing.

Jyn, however, didn’t waste a second firing back. “I don’t believe you.”

“Jyn, _stop_. You’re scaring me,” he said, his voice shaking with trepidation. Jyn's words stung him and buried its way in deep.

They’d exchanged so many words that it was all a blur. What, exactly, did she not believe him for? It was all too tempting to ask what she meant by it, but was just as afraid that the response would rip him to shreds.

“Tell me I’m wrong, then,” she said simply, arms crossed. Her small stature was nothing to the size she inflated herself with her challenge. She was a balloon now, inflating herself with the fumes she had internalized over time and then some, trying as hard as she could to not explode on the spot. No, her self-control matched his, if not surpassed it entirely, in her sure-footedness and desire to come out of this argument the winner.

 _Was_ there a winner to this, though?

He saw her fingers twitch slightly; she was digging them into her bicep.

Cassian knew then and there that she, too, was afraid of what might happen in the next few seconds, and the panic started to seep in as he realized that there was a very real chance that both parties will come out of this hurt for the worst reasons.

 _Quick, tell her something_ , he ordered himself, but he was already in too deep, and his mind raced in several directions, never stopping on one thought for too long:

_Give her an example!_

_When was the last time you put her above the cause?_

_Well, there was that one time when-_

_No, that wouldn’t count; she told Draven she was coming along because she knew you’d need backup!_

_But a backup wasn’t needed during that mission._

“I-” he stammered, but cut himself off abruptly.

_Maybe not that time, but the assignment before that._

_How did you overlook the changing of guards in that cell?_

_Okay, what about the time before that?_

_She’s always with you anyway, you basically have both her_ and _the cause at the same time!_

“Well, there was-”

_Is she with you because she wants you as a partner for the assignment?_

_Isn’t that the reason why?_

_Are you sure it’s not because she’s trying to salvage something between you two?_

_You've actually been making her hang on by a thread, aren't you?_

Jyn's nostrils flared subtly as she took in a deep breath, the last of her fuse wearing down by the flame inside her- that _he_ helped fan.

_Last chance, Andor!_

_Say something!!!_

“I'm sorry,” he admitted, his brain still scrambled trying to find the right answer. “I can't think of a time that I didn't, not since Scarif.”

Cassian knew- judging by the pained wince on her face, a slight twitch of her features that he only managed to identify from being in her circle for so long- that he had the vibroblade wedged into her back, twisted and stinging.

And yet, despite the wince being far more subtle than his admission, Jyn had grabbed hold of that blade, wrenched it out of herself, and plunged it right back into his own heart.

The pain hummed from his chest and made its way to his neck, closing his throat shut and choking him.

Explosions from Jyn were never visibly apparent, but this new silence was an explosion in space- visibly grand, but utterly silent.

Her arms dropped to their sides.

“That's fine,” she said quietly, walking past him to grab the few possessions she had in his quarters.

The reaction was so much more painful than the hushed glare she gave him as they left Eadu all that time ago.

“Where are you going?” he managed to croak.

“I don't know,” she said monotonously, grabbing her code replicator and shoving it in her pack.

Cassian was sure he'd killed her a little inside this time, and a lamentation creeped up his spine as he realized how he once again let the cause implicate someone he never meant to hurt.

“Don't go,” he said feebly. “I love you, I just-”

“-never seem to say it unless you're in dire straits,” she said, cutting him off acidly, but she, too, sounded feeble. Her body and mind exhibited two different but very compatible emotions working together to help her escape.

It hurt to even ask. “Are you leaving me?”

She paused and looked him in the eye, but there was a keen sharpness to her gaze that almost made him flinch. “I don’t want to. But right now, I don’t want to be around you.”

Cassian didn’t know how to feel about the tepid response.

“I-,” she said, and her eyes began to shine with tears. “I’m afraid that if I stick around any longer it’ll just make me think I’m really not as valuable as I think I am.”

It wasn’t true, he wanted to tell her. He so badly wanted to tell her, but she sounded so... _defeated_.

“It’s alright,” she said a little too casually, slinging the pack up over her shoulder. “I’m used to being treated like I’m not. Comes with the territory.”

The doors slid open and Cassian was frozen on the spot as he watched her walk past him again.

She stopped at the doorway when he asked, “You’re coming back though, right?”

Jyn didn’t bother to turn around and look at him. “I will,” she said shakily. “I just don’t know when.”

The doors slid shut quickly, but the echo of the slam continued in his mind, pounding at his temples the further their distance became.


	3. Rivers and Lakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an anon who sent: _Lyrics prompt: like a river always running, I keep losing you._
> 
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Tags:** n/a  
>  **Comments:** n/a  
>  ** _[[Tumblr Post]](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/178629342428/lyrics-prompt-like-a-river-always-running-i-keep)_**

She kept losing him.

In fairness, she, too, made it difficult for people to follow her- that just came part and parcel with the job, whether Jyn joined the Alliance or not.

But there was something about Cassian that made him particularly slippery, almost like water. When she thinks she has her eyes on him, that he’s within reach, she blinks once and he disappears, having slipped through her fingers.

Most of the time, it was easy to keep up with him. Much like water in a river, he brushed against the walls, following the path of least resistance, curving his way this way and that, all without pause, until he reached their destination. She would keep up with his pace without a problem.

In other instances, however uncommon they were, Jyn would lose him, his gangly legs making strides wider than her own, and next thing she knew she was alone. She would be left to the company of the mossy trees around her, or be lost in a sea of people in the middle of a town square. Once, she craned her head to briefly observe a tower in passing, only to look back and find the alleyway completely empty of beings ahead of her as well as behind her.

This  _ should _ have been fine- these scenarios weren’t new. But there was something about the specific turn of events of Cassian being within her reach and then suddenly disappearing that greatly uneased her.

The trees would become high walls that were impossible to climb.

The people around her would become wandering debris that took the air out of her.

The alleyway stretched in both ways, an endless labyrinth with no exit.

Jyn doesn’t remember anything once the realization hits, save for the panic that would begin to seep in and run through her veins. It took extraordinary effort for her to calm herself, to ease the breathing, to maintain visual focus of her surroundings even as the world started to spin and blur. Only when Cassian would whisper her name- or place a hand on her shoulder, or brush against the back of her hand- would she snap back to attention and the world restored itself as the calm returned.

She would be alone, but he would always come back.

He always  _ did _ come back for her, didn’t he?

Cassian was a river, always running, and Jyn would keep losing him. And, each time, Jyn would remind herself that she wasn’t alone, that he hadn’t abandoned her, that all she had to do was simply wait. Without fail, he would return; sometimes within hours, sometimes within days, sometimes within weeks or months. But he  _ would  _ return, and Jyn would take him in with open arms, a river flowing its way into an encircling lake.

She wasn’t sure if she could ever find the words to tell him the extent to which she appreciated the mere fact that he just  _ came back for her _ , but she liked to think that, based on the subtle twinkle in his eye when she smiled at him every time he came back to base, he was more than aware of how she felt.


	4. Restless, Until...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [literatiruinedme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/literatiruinedme/pseuds/literatiruinedme), who sent: Jyn falling asleep on Cassian's shoulder!!
> 
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Tags:** Fluff  
>  **Comments:** Based on my own restless nights, and my Cassian's attempt to help me with that.  <3  
>  ** _[[Tumblr Post]](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/178630785743/jyn-falling-asleep-on-cassians-shoulder)_**

Jyn stretched outwards, relaxing into the corner she set up for herself in Cassian’s ship as they headed back to base. It was a cold, hard floor, the walls just as rigid, but she was used to it- Wobani had  _ some _ benefit after all, much to her surprise.

Cassian was still up, contacting K2, running more mid-flight checks, logging down notes of the assignment. The man was diligent as ever, making sure that everything that could be done  _ would _ be done before he even entertained the notion of sleeping. Jyn used to be as diligent, back when she was with the Partisans, and most especially after her abandonment on Tamsye Prime.

These days, however, it just...wasn’t as necessary anymore. Not since Cassian.

She huddled up in her sleeping bag, head resting on a rolled up jacket on top of her pack, but despite her exhaustion and her body practically screaming at her to rest for once, she just couldn’t fall asleep. Jyn floated between a state of restlessness and fatigue as an uneasy tingle flowed through her veins, from her shoulder blades all the way down to her toes. She was trapped between wanting to move and being far too sore to move, not now that she began to lie down.

It was unclear how much time had passed between settling into some semblance of rest and Cassian taking a seat next to her, but she felt a hand on her forearm followed by a gentle voice: “Trouble sleeping?”

Jyn opened a single eye before nodding. “I hate it,” she mumbled groggily, sitting up and leaning back against the wall. Her breath was slightly labored, and she tried not to wince too hard at how battered she felt

Cassian outstretched his arm closest to her and she leaned on him almost immediately, a worldless routine between the two of them. Jyn knew exactly what to expect at this point, and her heart fluttered. Right on cue, Cassian reached up to stroke her hair, no longer tucked into a tight bun, letting his fingers thread through the strands. His fingers raked lightly against her scalp, and she slowly melted. Her head fidgeted slightly to better rest on his shoulder, while the rest of her body adjusted itself to an even more comfortable position. The durasteel walls of the ship went from frigidly cold to soothingly cool. Jyn’s eyes began to droop as she remembered the times Mama would brush her hair, slowly but steadily, and always in times of stress.

Perhaps she was more stressed than she first thought.

It hardly mattered at this point- Cassian was here, next to her, and the tension in her body melted away with each stroke of her hair. The fatigue blanketed her not in a way that made her face scrunch in pain, but rather in a way that comforted her and encouraged her to sleep.

The restlessness had gone away now, broken apart through the soothing touch of the man she called home, and the last thing she remembered before sleep completely took over was his warm lips atop her head.


	5. At World's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [Ivaylo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivaylo/pseuds/Ivaylo), who sent: "There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere inbetween."
> 
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Tags:** Canon-Compliant, POV Krennic, Unreliable narrator  
>  **[[Tumblr Post](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/179714044133/andor-there-is-not-always-a-good-guy-nor-is)]**

He wasn’t always a good man, but he was on track to do good things.

This project was the pinnacle of his achievements. This... _magnificent piece of machinery_ was going to make the galaxy _better_.

No. “Machinery” was far and away from accurately describing the intense labor and mental work hours behind all this.

This project was nothing short of revolutionary.

And yet...here stood this _girl_ , about to transmit _his_ blueprints to the Rebellion. Her eyes were as fierce as the flames that licked the sands of Mustafar, boring through him with a heat he couldn’t run away from; the flashes in his memory alone caused his throat to instinctively close up, as though she had channeled the powers of Lord Vader himself and sought to move in for the kill.

He had to stand in her way to stop her from ruining decades of hard work. In stealing his plans, she condemned the galaxy to _chaos_ and _violence_ , rather than bringing _freedom_ and _order_.

She was a bad person, and had to be stopped.

“Erso,” she claimed her name was.

It was then that he realized the eyes staring defiantly at him at the top of the data tower on Scarif were very much a product of Galen and Lyra Erso, long-forgotten because of his insurmountable schedule in the passing months. Galen’s eyes stared back at him with the ferocity and determination of Lyra’s spirit.

He always hated that determination; it never ceased to look at him with suspicion, as though it thought every step he took created a wave of destruction of the innocent.

As though he were a _murderer_.

Which he assuredly wasn’t, unlike the rebel scum their daughter was clearly working for.

“You’ve lost,” she told him.

_Preposterous._

The project was nearly complete; just a bit longer, and the construction would conclude. Then the whole galaxy will know that peace and order can be truly achieved knowing that the Empire’s enemies would be eradicated in a moment’s notice, wherever they hid.

He was a good man with a victory, not a loss.

Until he was shot.

“Leave it!” he heard the shooter say about him as he lay crumpled on the ground.

He lifted his head and saw the beauty and splendor of his project peeking over the horizon. He marveled at the sight until, much like the Death Star rising like the sun in the sky, it dawned on him that his time was up.

His own creation had come to erase him from existence.

The rebel scum who shot him had done him a disservice by not letting the girl kill him outright, instead leaving him to be killed by his own invention.

Slowly, gingerly, he flipped over to look at the two who managed against all odds to unravel his successes. He noticed the way they carried each other: they hobbled together, leaning on each other as they headed towards the lift, as though they’d known each other for years.

“Do you think anyone’s listening?” he heard the rebel say.

There was a pang in his chest as he remembered how lonely his life had become, all in the pursuit of validation from those in power, wishing every night that he would be considered important, or that people would listen to him.

No one really did, ultimately, and he realized that perhaps he took for granted the similarities between him and the rebellious duo.

He _had_ , for starters, effectively issued a death warrant to an entire city, most of whom were cooperative with the occupying Imperials, all in the name of testing his creation while simultaneously eradicating insurgent groups hiding in the underbelly.

 _Collateral damage in working towards the greater good_ , he once reasoned with himself.

Now, Lyra’s accusatory stare haunted his mind once again: _Murderer_.

The Rebellion snuck into Scarif and killed several Imperial troops, collateral damage in working towards what they believed to be the greater good, even if it looked like chaos to him.

Given the damage this weapon could do, it was now hard to call them murderers when they sought to destroy the very thing that made _him_ a murderer.

It was in these last moments of his life that he realized: as much as he wanted to say he was a good man, or that the rebels were bad people, the reality was a bit more nuanced than that. And, as he felt the winds change and watched the sky brighten, he thought that perhaps most people fell somewhere in between good and bad.

Perhaps the rebels had more good in them than he initially thought.

Perhaps he was much,  _much_ worse than he cared to admit.

Orson Krennic took one last breath, refusing to take his eyes off his creation even as he went blind from the searing white light, and laughed inwardly at the irony of his situation before he turned into dust.


	6. Undercover. Perfect. "Partners".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an anon, who sent: "Undercover as a couple"
> 
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Tags:** Undercover as a couple (sorta), unresolved romantic tension  
>  **[[Tumblr Post](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/182594125728/i-want-a-prompt-what-about-fandom-favorite)]**

“Hey, Willix,” the man whispered to Cassian from across the table.

Cassian had been quietly eating in the Imperial Officer’s Lounge, and one particularly chatty officer had decided that striking conversation with him was a smart idea despite Senior Lieutenant Willix’s clear body language indicating a desire to do anything but.

He said nothing, but instead slowed his chewing significantly. His met his colleague’s eager eyes, but he kept his head low, a stare-down from a predator daring its prey to come closer. This part of Willix’s persona was the easiest to pull off- he had established himself as the man of few words, unwilling to share anything that wasn’t related to the task at hand-

“Is it really true that you and, you know, Captain Kestrel are a _thing_?”

This officer was pushing his luck.

Cassian stopped chewing.

It was a preposterous assumption. There was a reason why Senior Lieutenant Willix and Captain Kestrel were brought to this command- _“We believe we can trust you new lot to lead by upholding the standards of conduct expected of our servicemembers, unlike your_ …recently retired _predecessors,”_ they were told upon arriving on this station- and everyone else knew as such. The alleged conflicts of interest were too numerous for the station to function properly, and their desperation for better staff gave the Alliance a convenient opening to gather more intel.

The accusation of fraternization was preposterous.

And yet.

Cassian’s eyes shifted and he turned just enough to see Captain Dawn Kestrel somewhere behind him sitting with her colleagues at another table. Although the others were engaged in mild chit-chat, Captain Kestrel opted to listen keenly, nodding along and appearing invested in the conversation. Suffice to say, Jyn was playing the “strict but fair” officer role exceedingly well. Even as one of the officers took a verbal jab at the Rebellion and the others howled with laughter, she smiled politely at the joke, nary a tightened fist to be found.

Jyn seemed to sense eyes on her, and their eyes met.

Cassian blinked slowly, a nod to their charade. _There. Now._

They kept their gazes held for one, two, three seconds longer, and, right on cue, Jyn’s lashes fluttered and her lips pursed before looking away shyly. Then, it happened again: one, two, three more seconds pass and Jyn’s eyes wandered back to meet Cassian’s.

It was his turn now; Cassian’s tongue darted out quickly, wetting his lips to feign signs of dryness and thirst before turning back to the nosy junior lieutenant.

The act worked: the junior lieutenant was fixated on Jyn’s reaction. Calmly, Willix reached for his glass of water and took a steady sip before setting it down quietly- pinky first to cushion the noise, of course- and said, “Whatever rumors you’ve decided to believe are blatantly untrue. I do hope I don’t need to remind you of the rules regarding fraternization in our command, _Junior_ Lieutenant.”

The junior lieutenant stiffened in his seat, switching gears at Cassian’s insinuation. “No, sir, of course not.”

Willix then dabbed his lips with a napkin and stood up. “Very well. I’ll thank you to refrain from engaging in such activity.” As he cleared his table and exited the lounge, Cassian counted again- _one, two, three, four five_ \- and the familiar scrape of a chair sounded behind him.

“Finished eating lunch already, Captain?” one officer asked.

“Of course,” Captain Kestrel replied. “Time flies when you’re with good company. But thirty minutes is thirty minutes, and I must head for another meeting.”

 

Senior Lieutenant Willix made sure to make his private meeting with Captain Kestrel count.

“Any news about their building plans?” Jyn asked softly.

Cassian was too focused on pressing his lips firmly against her neck, gripping at Jyn’s now messy bun.

“Cassian,” Jyn whispered harshly, but he sucked on her neck a shade harder and her back arched. Her grip tightened on his uniform, squeezing it to get the wrinkles in. The reaction sent Cassian’s urges into high gear, but he had to shove it aside. This act, however many layers were involved, was still just an act, part and parcel of the assignment. Cassian trusted in Jyn’s professionalism and was more than happy to be her partner when asked, but the way she panted was so light, so breathy, so sweet that he nearly choked on the hungry growl he somehow managed to suppress. He had to be better at handling his emotions- just because he had feelings for her didn’t mean he got a free pass to selfishly indulge in his colleague.

“Sorry,” he muttered, and pulled back to get a better look at her. Her lips weren’t quite reddened enough, the marks on her neck too subtle to show. But her cheeks were sufficiently flush and there were just enough loose strands of hair to indicate that Captain Kestrel was up to something.

_Perfect._

He cleared his throat, trying not to dwell too much on her scent or the taste of her skin. “Not quite. But we’re getting a bit closer to securing some new trade routes.”

“Trading routes?” she echoed, looking Cassian up and down to check the state of his own appearance. “Seems like they’re in need of resources to keep building.”

Cassian nodded, but tried not to hitch his breath at Jyn's fingers threading through his hair, strategically disheveling it for him.

“Excellent. I’ll send a report to Draven and maybe we can intercept the planets along those routes and see what we can work out to our advantage.”

Jyn looked up as she finished her sentence, and suddenly Cassian was acutely aware of how close their faces were. The room was a comfortable temperature up until then- now all he could focus on was the heat rising from his neck and blooming on his cheeks.

There was a silence between them that neither of them bothered to break. But the lack of action was killing him inside. Was she taking him in the way he did her? Was their undercover illicit coupling act less of an act than he’d hoped? He was afraid to ask, and yet he’d kill to know the answer.

“How do I look?” he breathed, trying his best not to fixate on the glitter in her eyes or the plumpness of her lower lip.

She opened her mouth to reply, but her answer hung in the air, suspended in the breaths between them. Cassian continued to fight the urge to keep that answer suspended by trapping it between their lips.

“Um, perfect,” she said finally. “You look perfect.”

“Right,” he said, licking his dry lips yet again. Then, after another pause, “Best I head out then.”

He was about to turn and walk away, until: “Hey, Cassian?”

Cassian paused, his breath held up by hope. “Yeah?”

Her breath tickled his groomed beard. Did she actually get even closer to him? His nails dug into his palms- _stop it, Andor, do_ not _violate her trust_. Jyn’s eyes were glazed over, like she debated telling him something else, but then her lashes fluttered again- _this isn’t part of the act_ , he noted curiously- and he wondered…Maybe there was something more between them, maybe the way her eyes fluttered on cue was more than just an act, maybe, just maybe-

“Thank you. For agreeing to come with me,” she said at last with a smile.

Cassian’s heart dropped, and he berated himself for even deigning to expect anything more. He returned the smile and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Of course; what are partners for?”

He turned away quickly to hide any hint of disappointment his face, grabbing his cap from the table and setting it back on his head. To his luck, two ensigns were walking down the hallway just outside the door, and they stopped abruptly to register the scene unfolding in front of them: Senior Lieutenant Willix was sneaking out of a meeting room, but failed to close the door quickly enough to hide the fact that Captain Kestrel was the only other occupant. Seeing the disheveled hair and strategically wrinkled uniform, they looked at each other with wide eyes, as though to ask, “Is that…? Are they…?!” but Willix cleared his throat and they stood at attention.

“Something wrong, Ensigns?” Willix said flatly as his eyes darkened. “You look as though you’ve seen something.”

They were quick to shake their heads. “No sir, nothing at all!”

“Excellent, just as I suspected,” he said, the subtle smile on his face contrasting with the tone of warning in his voice. “Carry on.”

Cassian thanked the stars that his persona gave him something to focus on other than the pang in his chest as he walked off to the next item on his agenda. But had he taken _just_ a second longer to leave, had he turned back around to look at Jyn one last time before shutting the door, perhaps he would have seen the look of disappointment on _her_ face, or heard the sigh escape her lips as she quietly said, “Right. ‘Partners’.”


	7. A Little Bit of You, A Little Bit of Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For callioope, who sent, "Rebelcaptain & teamwork, for the ficlet prompt!!"
> 
>  **Rating:** T  
>  **Tags:** POV Jyn, Modern AU, Selfie AU, Unresolved romantic tension, pre-relationship, friends to lovers  
>  **[[Tumblr Post](https://sleepykalena.tumblr.com/post/184306177193/rebelcaptain-teamwork-for-the-ficlet-prompt)]**
> 
> So this actually was meant to be a Zootopia AU, but it got much longer than ficlet length, so I switched it to a Selfie AU instead. ~~(it’s been how many years now and I still have not seen any red-headed Korean babies, why must you do this ABC…)~~
> 
> I’ve been writing way too much angst thanks to Parka, so I’m opting for modern, bittersweet fluff instead. Hope it’s still satisfactory though!

“Jyn Erso, is that really you? Here? In the office? _After hours?_ ”

Jyn rolled her eyes at the lofty sound of Cassian’s voice but couldn’t suppress the small, proud smile creeping up. For the first time ever, Jyn Erso was staying late at work, after hours, well after the sun had set and everyone else had gone home.

Everyone else, of course, except Cassian, who habitually stayed after hours anyway.

“Yeah, yeah, come off it,” she waved him aside, nose still buried on her computer screen as she clicked from one social media site to the next, checking up on her newly established network.

“So it’s done? We’re trending?” he asked with rising optimism.

“Yeap,” she said between clicks, her eyes still scanning one tab after another. “We’re trending on Twitter, and our diaper cream is featuring on the Instagram stories of major influencers. We even caught the attention of the bored, rich housewives with a high follower count.” She could feel a fizzing of excitement as she said the words, and they bubbled into the air to infect her work companion, whose eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

“And you thought you couldn’t do it,” he teased.

It was true- there was no way she’d do it on her own. It was _diaper cream_ , for fuck’s sake.

“Because that whole hashtag-DiaperEye thing was a _joke_ ,” she retorted. It was just an aside during idle chatter, a cynical comment about the power of social media and the gullibility of the masses, a sarcastic product pitch matched with an eyeroll strong enough for her eyeballs to pop out of her skull and roll away. But-

 _“You know…we_ could _do that to boost sales,” Leia said with an uplifting tone at the end that caused a sinking feeling in Jyn’s gut._

_Jyn couldn’t even backtrack on her own words- she was completely frozen with shock that anyone could even take her so seriously, and all she could do was blink._

_She remembered Leia turning to Cassian in that moment. “See to it that you two work together to find a way to encourage our diaper cream to double as an eye cream. Unofficially and off the books, of course- don’t want a lawsuit on our hands. Let’s use the power of social media to save this product! I’m counting on you two,” she said with a pat to Cassian’s stiff shoulder and a wink to Jyn before walking away._

_Cassian slowly turned to look at Jyn, and to her surprise, Cassian was actually_ siding _with her over it._

_“No,” she told him flatly._

_“Jyn, the company’s own CEO wouldn’t flat-out endorse anything she didn’t like,” he soothed. “And I agree with her on this one- we really could have something here,_ and _you can give yourself the credit for it.”_

_“You want me to actually make good on my sarcasm and make an unofficial, off-the-books campaign about this. Using social media. Which I don’t even have.” She turned her attention away from him and back to her computer screen, contemplating how to best fake a pleasant email for a client._

_Cassian leaned over just enough that his stiffly-pressed tie got in the way of her view. “Who was the one who came knocking on my office door three months ago asking for help, again?”_

_“I asked you to help ‘rebrand’ me so that I wouldn’t lose my job; I didn’t ask for you to help me become the top sales rep or anything.”_

_“Yes, but part of that ‘rebrand’ was a request to help you appear less anti-social. Which means following through on tasks that require more socializing,” he said with a sweet smile._

_Jyn hated that sweet smile, knowing full-well that his ability to pull that off was a distraction tactic, meant to divert from his own brand of anti-social tendencies. Then again, it was his mastery of that tightrope balance between saccharine and sour that helped him secure a position that was nothing short of being the right-hand man for the CEO, who just trusted them both with a project to help save a product for their pharmaceutical company._

Surprisingly, Leia was right to put her faith in them- Cassian took great pains to listen to her snark against humanity and put the right optimistic spin on them, and soon enough Jyn was actually talking to her neighbors for once, many of whom she discovered were tired mothers eager to save money by using something they already had in their homes rather than heading to their nearest cosmetics shop to diminish the bags under their eyes.

And, as it turned out, they were pleasant people once they had the right amount of coffee in their systems.

There was no way she’d ever find that out about them if it weren’t for this sharp-dressed man, who, at 7 pm, finally let his “after 5” colors show by leaning casually against her desk with a slight slouch.  

“Still, you actually followed through. And you used to not bother with things like this,” Cassian pointed out. “You took a risk-“

“ _We_ took a risk,” she corrected him.

“No, no, _you_ took a risk, _you_ left your comfort zone, _you_ kept an open-enough mind to work with me to shape this concept, and we can expect to reap the rewards when we take a look at our sales next month. I just helped add the bells and whistles. All that effort, all that footwork, all that investigation…that was still _you_ at the end of the day,” he said with conviction, and Jyn’s heart thudded against her chest at the seriousness of his compliments.

Was he always this intense when he felt this firey about something? Is this how he managed to build such great rapport with people?

But then her heart sank a little- was this just an act to get her hopes up with his sense of optimism? Or did he actually believe the words coming out of his mouth? It was hard to tell what was a teaching moment and what was a display of genuine pride for a friend.

 _Does it matter, though?_ She asked herself. _It’s not like you’re seeking his approval._

“Leia said we were a winning combination at the meeting,” she countered as she finally closed down her tabs and got ready to shut down her workstation. “But you had a large hand in that- people don’t buy products that don’t look attractive. And we both know I’m no good at that.”

Cassian shrugged. “Alright, so we’re a team. A little bit of you, a little bit of me. But that’s what made us that ‘winning combination’, so it doesn’t mean your efforts should be overlooked.”

For once, she turned away from Cassian not out of a desire to be left alone by avoiding anyone’s gaze, but out of fear that Cassian would catch the rising blush on her face.

Maybe, _just maybe_ , in the farthest corner of her personal vulnerabilities, a small part of her hoped that he approved of her in a more specific way.

“Yeah…a little bit of you, a little bit of me,” she muttered.

She checked the time again as she stood up from her chair- 7:20 pm.

“Crap, I’m late for a date,” she groaned. “I can’t believe I got so caught up in this project that I stayed after hours…I didn’t even buy an outfit for it. I might have to cancel-“

“And miss out on another socializing opportunity? Don’t do it, Jyn,” Cassian chided. “You have to follow through, even on the recreational stuff.”

“Yeah, but I was supposed to leave work right at 5 to buy an outfit, and I really don’t want to wear my work outfit to a date- it’s already bad enough that people call me ‘Serious Business Erso’ as it is.”

Cassian took a step back and eyed her. He seemed to really take his time assessing her appearance, and with each passing second, she felt more and more self-conscious, like she was another pharmaceutical product in need of a rebrand.

Suddenly, without a word, he grabbed his heavy coat and handed it to her. “Take off your office bottoms and put this on.”

“You want me to use your jacket as a dress?” Jyn asked egregiously.

“Don’t knock it til you try it, Jyn,” he sighed.

Still skeptical, she grabbed it from him and made a twirling gesture with her finger. Cassian obediently turned around, patiently waiting as she hurried to remove her trousers, throw the coat on, and tighten the waist belt to give it form.

“This feels incomplete,” she responded hesitantly, which prompted him to turn back around and take a good look at her. There was an immediate frown on his face, and she knew it was a mistake to even try it.

But then she looked at her seat, and-

“My scarf,” she said suddenly, and she grabbed it off her seat and wrapped it once, twice around her neck, letting it drape off her chest. She turned around to look at herself in the reflection of the nearby vending machine. It wasn’t particularly glamorous, but the scarf’s gentle sparkle created an almost jewelry-like effect and, thanks to their height difference, Cassian’s coat wore like a classy dress, bundling at the waist and creating a puffy skirt as it followed the form of her hips. Her hair was already formal, tied up to a neat and prim bun at the base of her neck while the loose fringes of her hair framed her face.

Jyn always hated adhering to fashion because it was anything but comfortable. But Cassian’s coat- still warm from his body heat and faintly smelling of his delicately pleasant, yet neutral body soap- defied expectations. It was fashionable without being flashy, and wearing it felt like a hug, the kind of comfort she’d always loved in her own clothes.

In its own way, Cassian’s coat was encouraging her to relax and have a good time in what could very well be an awkward and unsuccessful date.

But there was no way she’d admit that to him.

“What do you think?” she asked, spreading her arms out to present herself. “A little bit of you, a little bit of me, right?”

He let out a huff as his smiled widened. “Yeah. A winning combination.”

“Yeah, let’s hope this winning combination doesn’t turn out to disappoint this date-“

Cassian took a step closer into her space to stop her, and Jyn’s gasp caught in her throat. He stared at her with an intense gaze; there seemed to be so many things he wanted to say, and the longer she looked past his long lashes and into his eyes, the more confused she became. She could feel the words making their way out to match the fire in his eyes, and her chest tightened with anticipation and a worry that he was about to say something that could knock her off her feet and send her into a tizzy. The smell of that body soap intensified as his warmth radiated to her, and that tiny little vulnerable part of her ran in circles, still optimistic, still hoping that maybe-

“He could disappoint you just as much as you could disappoint him. That’s the risk you take when you go on these dates but make no mistake- a date isn’t a failure if it means you’re able to narrow down what doesn’t work for you. Then you can keep working to find what actually _does_ work.”

Jyn rolled her eyes. “What is this, R&D?”

“For the self? Definitely,” he said, but despite expecting a smile, his face remained serious, and the conviction in his tone remained. Slowly, hesitantly, he rested his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them reassuringly. “You got this, Jyn. I believe in you.”

_I believe in you._

It was surprising how hard four little words could knock her off her feet and send her into a tizzy. She hadn’t heard that from anyone since…

Actually, when _was_ the last time someone said they believed in her?

She nodded. “Thanks,” she breathed, her heart now pounding so rapidly that she swore Cassian himself could hear it. She hurriedly grabbed her bag and phone and tucked her chair back under her desk, making sure to turn away from him again to hide her blush. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” she called out as she headed towards the elevator.

The elevator doors closed as Cassian waved cheerfully at her, but as uplifted as she felt from his pep talk, that small part of her- the one tucked away in that farthest corner of her vulnerabilities- sank with the elevators as it lamented the ever-increasing distance between her and her coworker, the first one she ever considered to be an actual friend and someone she could depend on.

Jyn stepped out into the night and the chilly air brushed her cheeks as she rushed to the train station, but, for the first time ever, she missed the warmth Cassian stirred in her.


End file.
